Furniture construction



June 11, 1929.

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 3, 1928 arm-mm A BARTON 1,717,131 V Patented June 11, 1929.

1,117,137 PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES ARCHIE BARTON, OF SOUTH SHAFTSBURY, VERMONT. ASSIGNOR TO H. T. CUSHMAN MFG. (30., OF NORTH BENNINGTON, VERMONT, A CORPORATION OF VERMONT.

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed May 3, 1928.

This invention relates to improvements in articles of furniture and, particularly, articles embodying veneer panels.

The invention generally aims to provide an improved construction with means for conveniently assembling the parts thereof and for accurately locating and spacing said parts during assembly and maintaining the correct spacing and disposition of the parts after assembly in service. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevational view showing a portion of a furniture construction in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevational view taken as on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view taken as on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view as on the line H of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a front elevational View of the portion of the furniture construction illustrated.

As shown in the drawings, the invention is embodied in a furniture construction such as may be a smokers stand and which comprises a post 10, a horizontal top shelf 11, and a horizontal lower shelf 12 positioned below the top shelf and in parallel relation therewith. The post serves to support the two shelves, and the shelves and post are retained in rigid relation during service. To a: this end, the post is preferably provided with reduced portions 13 forming shoulders 14 and the shelves may be notched as at 15 so as to snugly embrace the post around parts of the peripheries thereof. The provision of the reduced portions and the shoulders gives the exact spacing between the shelves, and the shoulders act as abutments against which the shelves are placed during the assembling operations, eliminating the otherwise necessary use of complicated forms for assembling'purposes.

The post and the shelves are further provided with grooves 16 in which the edges of veneer pieces or panels 17 are engaged. These veneer pieces may be either single ply or double ply. The veneer pieces are maintained in the desired curved or other shapes by their engagements in the grooves around their peripheries or edges and may be glued or permanently aflixed in said grooves or merely Serial No. 274,696.

loosely positioned therein so as to be able to expand and contract under fluctuating temperature conditions during service without distorting or warping.

In the assembling of the parts, it is necessary to have one of the reduced portions, 13, which in the drawings is the lower one, elongated to enable the post to be placed in normal position against the shelf embracing said portion before the veneer panels enter the grooves thereof, and, after the parts are thus positioned, the shelf may be slid against the shoulder, 14, whereupon the panels enter the grooves in said shelf. The shelves are thus accurately spaced in service by the shoulders which serve also to determine beforehand the exact spacing of the shelves to accommodate the panels.

This arrangement has a further advantage in. that the veneer pieces may be initially formed flat and may be curved or fashioned into the desired shapes during assembly and maintained in the desired shapes after assembly by the engagement of their edges in the slots 17 of the shelves and post. The various parts of the construction may be varnished pr finished prior to assembly or after assem- )ly.

After the parts have been assembled with the veneer pieces in the slots and the shelves resting against the shoulders 14, the shelves are rigidly secured to the post while held in exact location against the shoulders and the parts of the construction thus rigidly assembled.

lVhile any convenient means may be employed for attaching the shelves to the post, I prefer to conceal the attaching means and to this end employ recesses or countersunk holes 18 in the bottoms of the shelves and use screws 19 or other fastening members and drive said screws thru the shelves while held against the shoulders into the post from the recesses as shown in Figure 3. The recesses are not exposed to View when the article is being used and thus the attaching means do not show and a smooth finished appearance is presented by the construction.

The invention herein described may be applied to a large variety of different articles of furniture and it will be understood that the specific construction shown is merely illustrative of the invention. Although only a single post is shown in the drawings, a number of posts may be used and will be constructed in the same or similar manner. The

number of posts as Well-as other details will probably vary with the various different articles to which the inventionmay be applied 5 in practice.

\Vhat I claim is A furniture construction comprising a unitary post having reduced spaced portions thereon forming shoulders, one of said por- 10 tions being elongated, shelves disposed. in normal relation with said post and abutting the reduced portions, said post and shelves having grooves, veneer panels in said grooves, said shelves being positioned against said shoulders and attached to the post.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 30th day of April, 1928.

ARCHIE BARTON. 

